MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 191 



bottom either muddy or composed of Globigerina ooze, more or less con- 

 taminated with terrestrial deposits, and frequently covered with a great 

 amount of decayed vegetable matter. We scarcely made a single haul 

 of the trawl which did not bring up a considerable amount of decayed 

 vegetable matter, and frequently logs, branches, twigs, seeds, leaves, 

 fruits, much as during our first cruise. 



Our Crustaceans, from the nature of the bottom, naturally consisted 

 of the same groups of deep-sea types which we obtained before. I may, 

 however, mention a haul containing a goodly number of Xephrops, a 

 genus we had not previously obtained. 



Among the Worms the Maldaniee and limicolous types were unusually 

 abundant at some localities, the empty mud tubes often filling the bottom 

 of the trawl. Some very large specimens of Trophonia were collected, 

 and remarkably brilliantly colored (orange and carmine) Xemerteans 

 and Planarians. 



The Mollusks were very scanty, and the absence of Comatuke or other 

 Crinoidswas equally disappointing, even when trawling on the extension 

 of the line started three years ago by the "Albatross," on the eastern 

 face of the Galapagos slope, when on her way from Chatham Island to 

 San Francisco. We took up this line off Indefatigable Island, hoping 

 to obtain from that quarter our best results, but our hauls were very 

 disappointing. The ground proved not only most difficult to dredge 

 upon, but also comparatively barren, and it was not till we got into the 

 oceanic basin again, between the Galapagos and Acapulco, that our 

 catches improved. But even then they were not to be compared with 

 the hauls at similar depths in the Atlantic off the West Indies, or along 

 the course of the Gulf Stream. 



Among the Fishes, our most important catches were fine specimens 

 of Bathyonus, of Bathybrissa, of Bathypteroides, and a few specimens of 

 Ipnops in excellent condition. 



From the nature of the bottom we naturally expected rich hauls of* 

 Siliceous Sponges, but we did not find many, and I do not think there 

 are many novelties among those we have collected. On two occasions, 

 a number of specimens of Ascidians were brought up ; among them was 

 a fine white translucent Corinascidia. 



Among the Bryozoans, the most noteworthy haul was a number of 

 beautiful specimens of the delicate Naresia. in excellent condition, On 

 the line from the Galapagos to Acapulco we brought up a good many 

 Foraminifera from the mud bottoms. On several occasions the bottom 

 must have been covered with huge masses of a new type of an arena 



